The present invention relates to stringed musical instruments, for example the guitar, and more particularly to a novel type of stringed musical instrument that can be simultaneously played by two musicians. Further, the present invention allows for the sound produced by the two musicians to be combined sonically within one resonant instrument cavity. The instrument may also be flexible, and therefore allows for the two musicians to play the instrument with great ease.
By way of example, a prior art description of a conventional guitar will now be introduced with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a conventional guitar, although it will be appreciated that a guitar is merely one type of stringed musical instrument and that the invention described herein is not limited only to guitars but also to other similar instruments, for example the cello, the violin, viola and so on. The guitar in FIG. 1 generally comprises a body 10 showing a front panel 11 and a back panel 12. In the front panel 11 there is included a sound hole 13. Attached to the body is a substantially rectangular neck 14 with a fretboard 15 contained thereon. The fretboard 15 extends over the length of the neck 14 and also extends onto the body portion of the top piece 11 from the neck 14 extending approximately to the location of the sound hole 13. On the fretboard 15 there are included a certain number of frets 16, usually being from 19 to 27 in number. On the end of the neck opposite from the guitar body there is shown a tuning mechanism 17, known as the headstock, with a series of tuning pegs 18 included thereon. The tuning pegs 18 in turn engage a surface about which a series of strings 19 are wound such that the tension of the respective strings may be adjusted for tuning the instrument. Often the number of strings on a conventional guitar is six, although the number may vary to be more or less than six. Also shown at the end of the guitar is a piece referred to as the "nut" 20 being located just next to the tuning mechanism and over which the strings 19 ride. The strings then extend from the nut 20, over the neck and sound hole, to the bridge 21.
A known variation of the conventional guitar described above is shown in FIG. 2. Such a guitar was invented by the Japanese musician Hideyuki Ezaki and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,636.809. The guitar is essentially a mirror symmetrical version of the conventional guitar shown in FIG. 1, wherein the guitar is symmetrical about its longitudinal plane P. Two necks 22 and 23 are shown extending in a back to back relation. The instrument further includes two sound holes 24 and 25 positioned on opposite sides of the guitar body. As well, two tuning mechanisms 26 and 27 are shown, also in back to back relation. As can be understood from this example, the guitar of Ezaki allows for a plurality of sounds to be produced by one instrument. However, only one musician is intended to play this instrument at a time. For example, the guitar will be held in the lap of the musician so that he or she could play only one side of the guitar at a time. To produce a variety of sounds, the musician would then have to flip the guitar in the lap and then play the other side of the guitar. It will also be appreciated that as the guitar is held by the musician, the strings facing the abdomen of the musician would likely be muted by contact with the person's body. Therefore, only one set of strings can actually be played at a time, and a plurality of sounds produced from the respective sets of strings cannot be simultaneously produced in the resonant cavity of the guitar.